Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-10-21 - BW 313 TOWN OF ULYSSES 1998 BUDGET WORK SESSION October 21 , 1997 PRESENT: Supervisor Douglas Austic; Councilpeople Catherine Stover, Carolyn Duddleston , Robert Weatherby and Peter Penniman ; Town Clerk Marsha L . Georgia . Others Present: Judge/Court Clerk Christine Springer and Deputy Court Clerk Michelle Townley . Supervisor Austic called the meeting to order at 6 : 30 PM . They Board had invited the Justice Department tonight to discuss their budget. Judge Rector was unavailable to attend as he was out of town tonight. Mr. Austic stated that the Board had to determine how to allocate the clerk' s salary in the Justice Budget. Mr. Weatherby asked, " What's the question. " Mrs. Duddleston asked if the Board was provided with the total hours spent by the clerk. Mr. Austic stated that Christine is full time at 35 hours and Michelle is part- time and she puts in around an average of 19 hours per week. Mrs . Duddleston asked if Judge Rector put in any hours to do his own clerk work. The answer was no . Mr. Penniman stated that based on the way the budget is presented now how would the Clerk money be spent. Mr. Austic stated that is what we are trying to figure out. Mr. Penniman asked who would be doing that work and what would be the procedure allocation or would there be a time card or what. Also Peter asked if the total budget is working out to be a reasonable hourly rate, because there are some concerns expressed that there is a whole lot of money in the budget for the amount of work and may not all be needed . Mr. Austic explained that the salary for the Justices have been set at $ 10, 000 for 1998 plus whatever the cost of living increase would be . That figure will not be changed. Peter would like to know roughly what the hourly rate might figure out to be for the Justice . Judge Springer estimated around 12 hours weekly for the Justice. That would come out between $ 16 to $ 17 per hour. Mr. Austic stated that one of the thoughts is to raise the hourly rate of the clerk to $ 10 per hour, than however long is spent a time card would be turned in for that. At this time there is $13, 979 in the budget for each judge to hire a clerk. Mrs. Springer asked where the money would come to pay Michelle. Mr. Austic replied that it would come out of that money. Mrs . Springer stated that besides the two thousand-dollar pay cut she would also have to pay Michelle out of what is left over. Mr. Austic stated that this is an odd thing and they are not sure how it will work. Mrs. Springer said that she could be essentially be taking five to six thousanddollar pay cut. Mr. Austic, " Unless you did all the work' . Mrs. Springer can not understand the Board. Mr. Penniman stated that part of this started because the court ruling said Mrs . Springer could not do the clerking for Roger and therefore the job responsibilities would be less . Mrs. Springer stated that if you have two judges , you separate and divide that money down the middle, you can not tell us how much to work. What's going to happen is that the Board will whittle my salary down so that I can not live on it and if that is what is going to happen here I want to know right now. Mr. Weatherby stated that his understanding is that if Mrs . Springer is not going to be clerking for Roger she will not be doing as much work. Mrs_ Springer states that she will do her own except for the inputting . Mr. Penniman stated that it would be illogical to pay the same salary if the job is being cut. Christine stated that she will do her own and does not have to do it here in the office , that she can do it at home . Mr. Auatic asked what. Roger has to say about this. Asked if Christine had talked to him . She had not t 'kd to him . Mr. Austic asked Mrs . Duddleston what her though were . Budget Meeting 1. 0-21 -97 Mr. Austic stated that it seems that no one does the computer work or sits at court. Judge Springer stated that she can get along with no one sitting with her at court, but she can not do the computer work and does not intend to because she will be getting another job . Mr. Austic stated than someone will have to do that and where does the funds come from . Mr. Weatherby asked who was doing Judge Rector' s clerking . Mrs . Springer stated that she is not. Michelle is doing all the inputting . Mrs . Duddleston asked what else is there to do . Mr. Austic asked how long does it takes to do both judges' inputting . Mrs . Springer stated that there is a lot of paper work still . Mrs . Duddleston asked if Judge Rector is doing his own at this point . Mrs . Springer said that she is doing his clerk work now, but I don 't know who is going to do it after this I do not know if he has talked to Michelle , I don 't know if he has talked to her about it. Doug asked Michelle if he had . Michelle stated that it had been awhile since he spoke to her about it. That he had mentioned it to her. Mrs . Duddleston asked if Michelle would be willing to do more hours if Roger wants you to do his . Michelle said she would be willing to do what she is doing now. She does have a problem sitting for court if it is a night. Mr. Austic stated that Judge Rector is talking about changing his court to mornings , maybe Tuesdays . Mrs . Springer stated that for all these years she sat with Judge Rector on Wednesday nights and did not get paid for it because she worked 35 hours during the days . So every time I sat with him for 3 to 4 hours at night it was free , I never got paid for that . Maybe you can understand a little about my attitude . All these years I did that for nothing and everyone knew that I was not getting paid for that. Mrs . Stover stated that they are not against her. Michelle was asked if she could estimate time spent on inputting for each judge . She stated that maybe % of her time is for Judge Springer and % for Judge Rector. Mrs . Duddleston stated that the money is there for the hours , but they need to get an answer out of Roger and how he is going to do it . Mr. Austic stated that he does not imagine that he will do the inputting unless Michelle was willing to teach him . Mrs . Springer stated that he does not even know how to do the basic paper work, he has no idea . Mr. Austic stated that he has requested a computer. Doug asked Michelle if the computer was free . She stated that it is not when she is here but in the afternoons it is . Mr. Weatherby asked Christine how many hours that she is clerking for Roger. She stated that she is not sitting for him any longer for court but is doing all his clerking . I am here 7 hours a day 5 days a week. Again Mr. Weatherby asked how much of that is for Roger. Mrs . Springer said more than half because Michelle does most of hers . Mr. Weatherby stated that the thing is that Mrs . Springer is not going to be doing Judge Rector' s clerking right, but she wants to get the same amount of money. Mrs . Springer stated that she does her own clerking . Mr. Weatherby said that' s right, you've been doing that and Michelle is not going to do it anymore . Mr. Weatherby stated that what ever Michelle was getting for doing your clerking now Mrs . Springer will get. Mrs. Springer said that yes she is going to do her own clerk work except for the inputting . Mr. Penniman asked how much of the clerk work is inputting . Mrs. Springer said % and '/. Mr. Penniman asked so how much of the total amount of money available for clerk work is for clerking and how much would be for the inputting . Mrs. Springer said she would guess probably 111 Mr. Austic interrupted and asked Michelle how many hours she works . Michelle works an average of 19 hours a week. Mr. Austic asked if they would assume that more is Christine' s than Rogers . Michelle says it varies . Mrs . Duddleston stated to save arguing say half-and-half. Mr. Penniman stated that starting in January she would have to keep track of how much for each one because it will be billed separately. Mr. Austic said that Roger might want his clerk to do other things . Nothing has been discussed . Mrs . Duddleston asked Christine how many hours she plans on spending in the office just for herself Mrs . Springer replied 3 to 4 hours for court the rest I will either do at home or come in at nights or whatever depending on my schedule . Mrs . Duddleston said but you don 't have any idea . You are saying you are spending 18 hours a week for Roger is that reasonable . Mrs . Springer stated that she might spend all day Thursdays in here depends how the work is . -Y/ 5 Budget Meeting 3 10-21 -97 Mr. Austic stated that it would take some time to get the hang of it. Mr. Penniman asked if there would be a need to have someone in the office to answer the phones. Mrs. Springer said she doesn 't know, not I , after this happens . Peter means in terms of interest of getting the job done . Mrs . Springer says the phone rings all of the time and people come in all of the time . Mr. Penniman said that than it needs to be coordinating the time' s people are in here to work. Mrs. Springer asked who would coordinate that. Mr. Penniman stated that he feels that it is up to the elected officials to take that responsibility. Mrs . Duddleston asked if other towns have a justice on call all the time . Mrs . Springer said no. Mr. Austic said but apparently someone would probably be here at least half the day most the time, for court or Michelle here doing inputting . Mrs . Springer said if they choose to answer the phone . Other courts do not have full time clerks. Mrs . Duddleston said that assuming Roger is going to hire Michelle. Mr. Austic stated I ' m assuming he is using Michelle. He asked if he had found any one else. No one had any idea . Mrs. Duddleston asked about paying $ 10 per hour for clerk. Mr. Austic asked what it Roger does not do anything_ Mrs . Duddleston assuming that somebody will have to do something . Doug asked Michelle if she could do all of Rogers's work or would you want to do it. If you had to spend more time could you . Mr. Penniman asked how it all worked out when Christine was out on sick leave. Michelle stated that it got done in her allotted time most of the time. Mr. Austic said that the people did not come in the afternoon than because they found out no one was here . Mrs . Springer stated that when she walks out tonight she would have no idea as to what she will be making salary wise. Mr. Weatherby said that she would know what she is making as the judge . The rest would be by hourly rate . Mr. Weatherby stated that if you do not pick any work for Roger, any more than you are doing now, and you take your clerk work for yourself you would be working less , right? Mr. Weatherby stated that black and white Michelle would be working less , if Christine does her own clerk work. Mrs . Springer said instead of doing Rogers I will do my own. Mr. Weatherby says you have indicated to us that about half of your time now spent is doing clerking for Roger. Mrs . Springer said more or less . Mr. Weatherby said that the bottom line Mrs . Springer is going to do less work, at least half and bottom line she expects us to pay her the same amount. Mrs. Springer said that she does not expect that, but bottom line here is do not want to get to badly screwed over. Mrs . Springer asked what effect would this have on my retirement and my health insurance. Mr. Austic stated that she would continue getting the same coverage on health insurance. Mr. Weatherby said he is trying to get this all straight in his mind. He asked Michelle if she was doing all of Christine' s clerk work. Mrs . Springer said that she is doing most of it. Mr. Weatherby said so the bottom line there is if you do your own clerk work it will be all that less time doing clerk work. I do not feel as a Town Board Member that we can pay any employee the same if they are going to do half the work that they were doing . Mrs . Springer says she understands that but. Mr. Weatherby says you have been saying that we are cutting you by thousands of dollars . Mrs . Springer says you are . Mr. Weatherby says that is because you are doing half the work. Mrs. Springer says that after four years, does not it seen a little odd to you , suddenly it was decided what I was doing was illegal , being Rogers clerk, excuse me . Mr. Penniman said that we could only except it as long as the justice's both agreed to it . Mrs . Springer said that she knew that but does it seem a little odd to anyone. Mr. Weatherby said what would you do if your attorney told you not to be doing something any more. Mrs. Springer said she was not going to argue about it, but that the Town Board got that letter from the attorney four years ago and Roger said don 't worry about it and suddenly Roger is saying worry about it. Mr. Weatherby said that they are not trying to give Christine or Roger a hard time , but the Board has a hard time here ironing this all out. Mrs. Springer said than the way I understand this that unless Roger does his own clerk work he does not get paid for it , is that the idea . Budget Meeting 10-21 -97 Mr. Austic said that was correct. Mr. Weatherby said he thought that both judges u nderstood that. That the clerk money, in the budget, is there for clerking . Mrs . Springer does not think he understands that. She thinks he feels he will get half the clerk money and than take Michelle out of part of it . Mr. Austic said than he would have to do the work. Mr. Weatherby said that we do not know who is doing the clerk, if he is doing his clerk work, or if it is getting done . Mrs . Springer asked how would you ever know that. Mr. Weatherby said that maybe we wouldn 't. Mrs. Springer said that there would no way to know if he is ever doing his clerk work. Mr. Austic stated that someone has to figure out what they were going to do , as far as work. Mr. Penniman stated that the Board is trying to work with this situation , but with the lack of communication between the justices makes it kind of difficult. If people aren' t coming to us with a plan and telling us this is how much money they need , this is why they need it and what it is being used for. It is a strong inclination on our part to cut the money down . Mrs . Springer said that she does not communicate with Roger about this . He has been in the office in the last three months maybe two times. It is pretty hard to communicate when he never comes in . Mr. Penniman stated that the Board needs to speak to Roger. Mrs . Springer said she does not care if they do , but it is pretty hard for her to communicate because he is never around and does not show any interest. Mr. Penniman feels that the Board has a responsibility to the public to understand what the money is being used for. Mrs . Springer said that she understands and not to talk to her about responsibility , she understands that very well . The board repeated that Mrs . Springer could do all of her clerking , including the inputting and still make about the same salary, but not do any of Rogers' s work. Mrs . Springer wanted it on record that at the beginning of January she will have accrued 18 more days of vacation , which she wants to get paid for. Also whatever sick time that she has accrued she expects to get paid for, because she will not need any sick pay any longer. Mr. Austic asked if there were any other questions. He stated that the Board has u ntil the 20th of November to decide this . Somehow we need to talk to Roger and figure out what is going to happen . Mrs. Springer said that they would know what they are doing , meaning her and Michelle . Mrs . Stover asked if it would be u nreasonable to ask to be thinking about how much time you are putting in now for each . Mrs . Springer said that in the next couple of weeks they would separate all the files . Mr. Weatherby stated to Mr. Austic that he would have to mandate that Roger comes in and talks to the Board . Mr. Penniman stated that maybe it would be a good idea to send both of the judges a letter explaining how the money will be allocated . Mr. Austic stated that the $ 10 per hour for clerking has been determined and that it looks like everyone is in agreement to that. The question remains as what Roger will do. Mr. Austic told Michelle that maybe he could teach Roger the inputting . Mrs . Springer stated that Roger just could not do any of it himself, he does not know how. Mr . Weatherby asked then what Roger had been doing with the computers he has gotten . Mr. Austic said for Michelle and Christine to figure out about what it takes for each justice. Probably this is the way it will be. Mr. Weatherby stated that at this point it is that. Hearing no further questions or concerns the Board thanked them for coming in . The Board reviewed the budget. Mr. Austic stated that A7310. 1 and A7310 . 4 amounts in the tentative budget were just reversed . They should be . 1 $4000 and . 4 $39630 — he will correct this. Mr. Austic asked what the board wanted to do . Mrs . Stover asked how much would be taken out if the salaries were reduced to 4% . She is still trying to find around $ 12 , 000 to cut out of the budget. They figured r$cyging the salaries would take out around $3000. The Board discussed at Irgth reducing the attorney budget. Mr. Austic has doubled this amount from 1997 from $4000 to $8000 . He was not comfortable reducing -- it was decided to reduce A1420 . 04 to $6000 . Mr. Austic stated that some of the major increases were in the B Fund under planning — B8020 . 1 was increased from $3000 to $5500 and B8020 . 4 from $2000 to $5500 . Mr. Austic felt that it is Budget Meeting 5 311 10-21 -97 possible to spend this much with the Master Plan be finalized and will need printing , the legal ads and the public hearings , the time spent transcribing , printing costs, and so forth . Also when the Master Plan is complete the job of re- doing the Zoning Ordinance . Maybe it won 't all get used , if you wanted to cut it down some it would be okay. The Board decided to cut B8020. 1 down to $4500 reducing that by $ 1000. These cuts reflected about $6000 total cuts . Mrs. Stover stated that is about half of her goal . Mrs. Stover asked about the fund balance in DA of $ 152565. Mr. Austic said that $25, 000 is gone which brings it down to $ 127 , 565. Mrs. Stover asked if $6000 could be taken from there . Mr. Austic stated that they could do that. Mr. Weatherby stated that he believes in a cushion , but not a huge one. Mr. Austic says that he could go as high as $ 10, 000 from that fund balance , than maybe if we do that we could put the $2000 back in for the attorney and the $ 1000 back on PS for planning . Mr. Austic said that this is what he will do , according to what he is hearing from the board , 4% for the employees , leave $8000 if for the attorney and leave the $5500 in for PS in planning and take $ 10, 000 from the DA fund balance. They continued to discuss the overdrawn accounts in the 1997 budget and where to get the money. Mr. Austic stated that we are overdrawn in A1620 . 4 by $2052 and it will get worse; A1420. 04 is overdrawn right today $ 1395 and he knows there will be another $ 1500 to $2000 spent there , by the end of the year we may be over by $4000. Those are about the only two that we are over. Mrs . Stover asked if the contingency could be used. The subject came up about a fee for the application for the Tower Ordinance. Mr. Austic stated that he had gotten a figure of $5000 and asked if the Board wanted to try that. It would almost cover the expenses . Mrs . Duddleston asked why they could not set it higher so that more of the expenses could be covered . Mr. Austic stated that they could . Mrs . Duddleston stated not to hold back. The expenses we have incurred to this point are over $8000 . Mr. Weatherby asked if a dollar figure should be set or just state that the expenses should be covered . Mr. Weatherby moved , seconded by Mrs . Duddleston the following ; RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the TOWN OF ULYSSES set the fee for an application for a cellular tower under the "TOWER ORDINANCE" at $7255 . Mr. Austic aye Mrs. Stover aye Mrs. Duddleston aye Mr. Weatherby aye Mr. Penniman aye Adopted . Mr. Austic stated that he would have Mr. Rachun notify Frontier of the fee or asked if they should wait until they have decided on a site . Mrs. Georgia asked if the Board was going to pass this budget, after the previously mentioned modifications , as the Preliminary Budget . Mr. Austic said that they could , but he would like to see what the court comes up with . He stated that is the money. Mrs . Duddleston stated that the money in the tentative budget is quit a bit more , it is over what she feels are needed . Mr. Austic stated that Roger has told him he would come in on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and man the office . On Thursday morning and Wednesday morning ( if Roger held court that day) they are here as judges not clerks . Mr. Penniman stated that the way the tentative budget sets it is roughly $24000 for each judge, a lot of money. Mrs . Duddleston agreed . Mr. Weatherby says he Budget Meeting 6P-S 10-21 -97 understood Christine to say that as judge it averaged out to be 12 hours a week. They all agreed that it is an extreme amount of money. Mr. Penniman stated that he would take $4500 out of each clerk salary. He thinks that after what they have been through for the last year and based on all that they have been hearing about what the job entails . The fact that when Christine was out the work apparently got done . To his knowledge there was no big backlog or something that did not get done. They still feel that they would like to talk to Roger. Mr. Austic repeated that he got NO budget from that department for the last couple of years. Mr. Austic commented that with these changes we might be lower than 96-tax rate . The clerk asked again if they were moving to make this budget preliminary. Mr. Penniman moved , seconded by Mrs. Duddleston the following ; RESOLVED that the Town Board of the TOWN OF ULYSSES makes the following changes in the 1998 Tentative Budget: 4% increase for Town employees ; reduce A1110 . 111 to $9479 and A1110 . 112 to $9479; and take $ 10, 000 from the DA fund Balance . This Tentative Budget will now be the Preliminary Budget that can be advertised for the Public Hearing . FURTHER RESOLVED that the Town board of the TOWN OF ULYSSES set the Public Hearing for November 11 , 1997 at 7: 00 PM at the Town Hall , prior to the Regular Board Meeting . Mr. Austic aye Mrs . Stover aye Mrs . Duddleston aye Mr. Weatherby aye Mr. Penniman aye Adopted . Hearing no further business Mrs . Stover moved seconded by Mr. Weatherby to adjourn the meeting . Hearing no objection . Unanimously approved . Meeting adjourned . Respectfully submitted , MARSHA L GEORGIA Ulysses Town Clerk MLG : mg